Constant technological advances have made us accustomed to seeing and consuming digital advertising around the clock, every day—and, in most cases, without really understanding what digital advertising is all about… Or, at the very least, how it differs from traditional advertising.
When we browse on our computers, smartphones, the web, or various social media platforms, we are exposed to a vast amount of advertising, which is targeted based on information collected from consumers and delivers messages tailored to that data in order to be as effective as possible.
This type of advertising is known as mass advertising, and it differs from traditional advertising in that it aims to reach as wide an audience as possible in order to attract more customers or consumers, without taking their specific information or interests into account.
With the advent of smart TVs, television has entered the world of digital advertising, “thanks to connected TVstrategies, ”according to Calcagno, a professor at the Bachelor’s Degree in Business Communication and Marketing Analyst at Universidad ORT Uruguay.
“Clearly, the growth of digital advertising is made possible by the technological and connectivity advancements we are seeing worldwide. However, in this regard, our region has always lagged slightly behind others, due to the fact that access is limited to certain sectors of the population rather than being available to everyone,” says the ORT professor.
"TV isn't dead—it's having babies. TV has evolved, and today it encompasses a whole lot more than traditional TV," says Calcagno.
Furthermore, according to her, in order to be part of the advertising ecosystem and receive ads with integrated audience data, home televisions must be connected to the internet. The problem is that televisions with these features have not yet reached even 50% of households in Latin America.
"It's a fact that we're heading in that direction," Calcagno says. He notes that we can see this in "the consumption patterns of younger audiences and the rise of Twitch, a platform centered on live content (which some of us long believed had died out) that offers much more than a traditional one-way live broadcast."
Based on her experience in the local industry with integrating digital advertising into traditional inventory, the professor highlights several key benefits, including the ability to understand audience behavior—specifically, how and for how long they engaged with the content—to avoid wasting extra impressions on off-target audiences, and the ability to track the journey from initial exposure through to the point of “purchase.”
“There’s a saying about the world of television that I think perfectly illustrates the topic of digital advertising: ‘TV isn’t dead—it’s having babies.’ TV has evolved and now encompasses a whole lot more than traditional TV,” says the professor.
Digital billboards
“It’s not just television that’s moving in this direction; I’ve collaborated with colleagues from various local media outlets to help bridge the gap between the traditional outdoor advertising industry and Digital Out Of Home, which shares the same goal: to gather more data and tailor messages more effectively based on the actual number of people reached, who makes up the audience, how often they’re exposed, and so on,” explains Calcagno.
Calcagno points out that when TVs connect to the internet, “they provide audience data—at the very least, the IP address (a number that uniquely identifies a device’s connection to a network)—and this allows us to gain insight into consumers’ location, context, and interests. The possibilities are virtually endless, and this helps with planning and optimizing campaigns. Ultimately, it enables much more effective marketing of each event or inventory, allowing brands to specifically target their desired audience and avoid wasted spend.”
"Because the pandemic has prevented spectators from attending in person, it can be said that everything is evolving to a degree that goes beyond what we used to know as experiencing a live event," says the professor.
According to the professor, one area that has been growing at an exponential rate—and that is beginning to mirror trends seen on TV—is gaming: “In FIFA, for example, there are brands that only appear in certain regions or when specific teams play, and the reality is that the World Cup takes place only once every four years, but many fans play every day.”
“I think this is going to take a form we can hardly imagine,” Calcagno concludes. “Given the presentation of the Tokyo Olympics, with the role of drones and the added possibility of watching the event live through virtual reality—due to the pandemic preventing spectators from attending in person—we can conclude that everything is evolving to a scale that exceeds the limits of what we used to know as experiencing a live event,” he concludes.